Button.



F. G. NEUBERTH.

BUTTON.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10. Hill.

Patented Oct. 31,1916.-

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN G. NEUBERTH, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE S. 0. 86 C. 00., OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BUTTON.

Application filed November 10, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANKLIN G. NEU- BERTH, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain Improvements in Buttons, of

which the following description, in connection with .the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to buttons of that class which comprise a rounded or domeshaped head or body portion and a shank by which the button may be secured in place.

It is an object of the invention to provide a button of this class which may be constructed' of sheet metal and which shall be of light weight, requiring little material in its construction and which shall be capable of production at low cost.

I have discovered that a sheet metal button having an outer curved portion and an inturned shank retaining portion with corrugations, creases or wrinkles formed therein possesses the qualifications above enumerated and also certain other advantages which will appear hereinafter. It is believed that heretofore a button having an integral corrugated portion inturned beneath its head to support the same and retain a shank has never been known or used.

By bending the inturned portion of the button into contact with the inner surface of its outer curved ortion it is possible to utilize thin material in the construction of the button, as the inturned portion supports and stifi'ens the outer portion, preventing its distortion when in use. The'inturned portion is rendered very stiff, especially against being bent outwardly, by the corrugations formed therein. These corrugations will preferably be disposed substantially radially and inclined upwardly from adjacent tothe outer edge of the button toward its center.

Another important feature of the invention comprisesa' button shank of novel construction. As herein shown, the shank has an eye and feet which extend outwardly in opposite directions from the center of the eye and which are then turned outwardly at right angles to the plane of the eye. The

out-turned feet offer an extended surface whichmay be engaged by the inturned por- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1916.

Serial No. 659,523.

tion of the head with the result that the the inturned portions and make their sup-- port of the outer portion of the button more rigid. They also have the effect of greatly strengthening the button by holding the inturned portion aganst outward bending due to a strain upon the shank. In the button herein shown the corrugations in the inturned portion thereof are formed by a natural puckering of the marginal material as it is rolled and folded inwardly, no special tools being required to shape the corrugations. In addition to the benefit derived from the stiffening and strengthening effect of the corrugations, the latter add appreciably to the ornamental appearance of the button forming, together with the lines of separation between the sections of the in the shank as a center.

A button of the construction above outlined may be made entirely by automatic machinery and by a method which includes shaping or drawing a square sheet metal blank to form the body of the button and twisting the shank from a piece of wire. Since a square metal blank may be produced from sheet metal with no waste and a shank may be produced from wire with no waste whatever, it will be 'seen that the construction and design of the button of this inventon is of great advantage from the manufacturing standpoint.

A preferred method of manufacture is outlined but not claimed hereinafter as it constitutes the subject-matter of my co-pending application Serial No. 34,270, filed June 15,

a description of a preferred embodiment there- 'of selected for purposes of illustration and shown, on an enlarged scale, in the accompanying drawings, 1n wh1ch,

Figures 1 to 5 indicate the various steps in one method of producing the button; Fig. 6

is a view in perspective of the finished button in inverted position, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the plane 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, it will be seen 7 that the body of the button co prises asingle piece of sheet material bent and drawn so as to form an outer curved convex portion having a circular edge 12 formed by turning or rolling the material of the button inwardly toward its center. The inturned portion, in the illustrated button, comprises four distinct sections 14 each of which is formed by one of the corners 19 of the blank as will appear hereinafter. The extreme inner tip of each section 14 is folded outwardly between the section and the concave surface of the outer portion 10 and preferably lies in contact with the outer portion although it is not essential to this invention in its broadest aspect Whether the tip is in actual contact with the portion 10 or whether it is folded in the manner illustratedf In turning inwardly the sections 14 their adjacent edges are forced tightly together so that the line of separation is scarcely more than apparent in the finished button. In some cases, however, the meeting edges form in-elfect a radially disposed shallow channel 17 of V-shaped or U-shaped cross section.

In the center of each section 14 the material is puckered or buckled inwardly forming a, corrugation or wrinkle 16 which extends from adjacent to the edge 12 in a radial plane toward the center of the button, being inclined upwardly (considering the button in' a position reverse from that shown in the drawings) toward the center of the convex or dome-shaped portion 10.

The shank 20 is bent from a single piece of wire and has feet 22 extending outwardly from the center with ends 24 extending in opposite directions at right angles to the plane of the eye. The shank is disposed in the button so that its sides pass between adjacent sections 14 of the inturned portion, the feet 22 and particularly the ends 24 being engaged and held in place by the sections 14. 7

The corrugation or wrinkle 16 in each section 14 of the inturned portion constitute an important feature of the button of my invention. These are formed when the corners 19 and edges of the button are rolled over and inwardly. This formation is probably due to buckling or puckering of the material caused by lateral compression during this process but it may be due to other causes. It is within the scope of the invention, however, to form the corrugations in I any desired manner with or without the use .of tools formed to impress or draw them.

The term corrugation as used herein should, therefore, be construed to cover any wrinkle,

bend, fold, score, indentation or flexure how-' ever produced.

1 to 5. In practising'that method a square blank, such as that illustrated in Fig. 1,

is first cut from sheet material, for example, sheet steel or brass. The corners and outer edges of the blank are then bent upwardly and simultaneously the body of the blank-is drawn into a cylindrical shape as indicated in Fig. 5. It is during this step of the process that the corrugations 16 are formed. The final step consists in flattening the under side of the button thus producing the finished article shown in Fig. 6.

Having thus described the button of my invention and one method of producing it, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A button having a curved outer portion with a circular edge, material extending from said edge inwardly and upwardly at an inclination toward the center of said button in four separate sections spaced from the inner surface of the outer portion except at the center of the button, and a shank retained by said sections.

2. A button having a dome-shaped outer portion, and an inwardly extending portion divided on radial lines into separate sections, the material'of each of said sections being wrinkled to form a corrugation extending radially toward the center of the button, and a shank having angular'portionsengaged by said sections.

3. A button having an outer dome-shaped portion, and separate under-turned sections contacting adjacent to their inner ends with a the inner surface of the'dome-shaped portion to support the same, each section having a stiffening corrugation formed therein,

and a shank with an'eye and feet atright' I angles to the plane ofthe eye which are engaged by said inner ends.

4. A sheet metal button having an outer curved portion, and an inturned portion 7 having points folded backwardly between the outer portion and the body of the in-' turned portion and in contact with said outer portion, and a shank having laterally extending feet retained by said points.

5. A sheet metal button having an outer curved portion, and 'a shank with an eye 1 V and feet turned at right angles to the plane of the eye, the outer portion of the button 'merging into an inturned portion comprising separate sections which are spaced from the curved portion of the button except at their inner ends where they engage the feet of the shank. f

r 6. A metal button having'an outer convex portion, a wire shank having an eye and feet turned in opposite directions and at gages said feet and has corrugations to right angles to the plane of the eye, and a stiffen it against being bent outwardly by turned-in portion formed integral with said tension on the shank.

convex portion and comprising separate sec- In testimony whereof I have signed my 5 tions, alternate sections being folded over name to this specification in the presence of 15 one foot of the shank. two subscribing witnesses.

7. A sheet metal button having an outer FRANKLIN G. NEUBERTH. curved portion, and a wire shank having lVitnesses: laterally extending feet, the outer portion JAMES PIoKLEs, l0 merging into an inturned portion which en- RICHARD S. TOLMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

